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View Full Version : So I have this problem.....


Sauron
03-26-2005, 11:15 PM
Not sure where this belongs, but none of the other forums seemed appropriate.

My dad's had a stroke about 3 years ago, and is now in a nursing home. He's about 80% recovered, but he can't really live by himself anymore. He also can't read any longer, and about half the time his speech comes out garbled. His sense of humor is still there, and his memories, so the father I knew is still intact. But the communication can be challenging at times.

So dad watches a lot of TV. He always did, but now he watches even more. So I just bought my dad a new flat-screen HDTV. I figured that if he's going to watch TV as much as nursing home residents do, then it would be great if he could have the full color, HDTV experience. It's kind of small (23 inch screen), but just right for his residency room. So it was delivered, installed, etc. But my dad doesn't like it; the remote control is simply too challenging for him and he kept hitting buttons that were setting all kinds of different display modes, etc. The administration of the nursing home was patient with us, but they also were somewhat flustered by it.

So bottom line is we took the flat-screen out, and I bought my dad a standard, CRT-type television instead. Dad's happy, everyone's happy.

But here's the problem: I'm stuck with a flat-screen HDTV that I don't want. I tried returning it, but the store won't let me. I tried explaining the situation with my dad, but they're not budging. It's not defective, so I can't really invoke the Consumer Protection Act to get my money back. :fuming:

I wasn't planning on buying myself an HDTV right now, I wanted a bigger one than this and I was going to wait until next year for the prices to fall. I already have a flat-screen monitor for my PC, so I don't need it for that. I suppose I could donate it to a charity and take a tax write-off for next year, but the value of the write-off won't be nearly the cost of the TV itself.

Any ideas? Does anyone have experience selling large electronics on eBay?

viscousmemories
03-27-2005, 12:08 AM
I've bought and sold things on eBay and never had any major problems with it. Never anything that large, though. You'll almost certainly lose a fair amount of money on it because people aren't going to want to pay much more than retail or exorbitant shipping charges. I'd recommend that you try the local classifieds first. Good luck!

Crumb
03-27-2005, 12:24 AM
Although it seems too late now, you could have just bought him a simple universal remote for the HDTV...

TomJoe
03-27-2005, 12:52 AM
Is this store a retail chain? If they have more than one store in your area, try taking it to another one of the stores. Or, if it's still in the original box, can you repackage it and tell them that it was a gift and that you just happen to have the receipt? ;)

LadyShea
03-27-2005, 02:19 AM
I find it bizarre the store won't take it back. Did they say why? What allowance is there in their policy for the refusal?

Give eBay a try, someone will surely want a brand new item. Just ensure you clearly state that buyer will pay all shipping.

You could also try a local classified ad, that was a good idea.

Do you not have any small room where a little TV would be nice? Bedroom or something?

Sauron
03-27-2005, 03:12 AM
It's a retail (bricks & mortar) store that has an online website; www.onecall.com

The store just has a blanket policy on no returns on TVs over 20 inches in size. It's a 23-inch TV. :noid:

I could put the TV in the bedroom (or the guest bedroom). However, the bedrooms don't have a cable hookup in the right place.

Also -- and word to the warning in case anyone's contemplating one of these -- without digital cable the HDTV is pretty useless. Some people buy them just for DVD movies; in that respect, they're pretty good. But side by side with a standard TV, they're actually not as good as a standard TV, if all you have is ordinary cable.

So unless I splurge for digital cable + HDTV (another $40/month), the HDTV won't do much in either bedroom.

I'm thinking that eBay or craiglist.org might be the way out here. I'm just afraid of getting stiffed or scammed from either one. :-(

Crumb
03-27-2005, 03:43 AM
How can you get stiffed? Don't ship the TV until you get paid. Isn't that standard practice?

viscousmemories
03-27-2005, 04:05 AM
Yep. It's not at all unusual on eBay to withhold shipping until the check clears and the cash is in your hand.